If you’ve heard this story before, don’t stop me, because I’d like to hear it again.
–Groucho Marx
Day 179, Saturday, July 20, 2019
Sites Covered in this Post
- Ring of Beara, Cork
- Ewe Sculpture Garden
Lesson Learned: Brexit is a big deal over here, but then again, so is cricket. Both have a lot of rules, opinions, and competing forces working against each other. We’ve been listening to news programs, sports programs and opinions of lots of people we’ve talked to on both subjects. Most, are against Brexit. The ones that are for it don’t seem to have a clear reason why they support it. Most people prefer futbol, or rugby (or hurling or gaelic football) over cricket, so why the hell is it on TV all the damn time? On Brexit, those against it are so because of a gut feeling, not a solid, defendable set of facts. Kind of how they feel about various cricket teams.
I think that Brexit is a bad idea for the UK, but I’m not interested in it enough to invest enough time studying it to consider myself knowledgeable. Sort of like my opinions on cricket.
Ring of Beara
When visiting the southwestern part of Ireland most tourists find themselves driving the heavily-traveled Ring of Kerry (which is a route around County Kerry) which is lovely and may be considered to be one of the world’s most scenic areas, but did I mention that its full of tourists clogging the narrow, narrow roads acting like they don’t know how to drive on the left side of the road. Like Americans. Take a tip from me, and consider the less-famous Ring of Beara. It’s also in the same part of the country, the southwest, is the just as gorgeous, and with far fewer tourists. The 128 km long Beara Peninsula route— named after the Spanish Princess Beara — is drop dead gorgeous.
Much of the ring follows The Wild Atlantic Way (a long-distance touring route, stretching along the Atlantic coast from Donegal to West Cork) through all the towns and villages of the Beara Peninsula, The Ring of Beara is a glimpse into Ireland at its most wild with lots to see off the beaten path, and thankfully tourist bus-free for the most part.
The ring starts in the town of Kenmare and is the only peninsula in the country that straddles two counties (Cork & Kerry) as if that matters. The Ring crosses the Healy Pass and meanders through villages including Adrigole, Castletownbeare, and Ahihies. It also passes countless vistas and sites not normally found on tourist guides.
We started our visit in Kenmare, which is a scenic little town with lots of hotels, BNBs, hostels and cafés to keep you fed with a pint or two. It’s also the link between the Beara Peninsula and the Iveragh Peninsula to the north, which is your link to the Ring of Kerry if you decide you want to drive both routes. We took four days to do the Ring, but you can do it in less (or more if you like). Here are some of the towns to visit on the peninsula.
Kenmare
Start the morning with some traditional Irish scones at one of Kenmare’s many cafes. Explore Reenagross Park and the Kenmare Bay, with its marine life, spot some seals lounging on the many islands in the bay, go kayaking, swimming and sailing (though we did none of those). Then start your drive over the suspension bridge and onto the Beara Peninsula.
Tuosist
There’s a lot to see in this small area. Stop off at the Uragh Stone Circle, see the horsetail waterfalls at Gleninchaquin, or do some fishing out on the Cloonee Lakes (requires a license, available in Kenmare). After that, you can take the coast road to Kilmacalogue Harbor, and stop for a bowl of seafood chowder and maybe a pint. Be sure to keep your wits about you, and don’t have too many pints, because the roads are tight, winding, its always raining, so they are always wet, and the locals fly down these roads as if they are roaring around the Beltway at 4 AM.
Lauragh
Glanmore Lake is one of the mot stunning picturesque spots in Ireland. Make sure you take some pictures, at least a hundred or so. Then resume your journey to see the famous Healy Pass, a spectacular winding route to the south side of Beara.
Ardgroom & Eyeries
After coming down from the top of the Healy Pass drive towards Ardgroom, a traditional village steeped in history. Chat to local artists and craftspeople and drive towards Eyeries. I can’t emphasize too much how hospitable we found the people of Ireland. Everyone is willing to stop and chat. They are always interested in hearing about America. They all seem to have relatives in the U.S. or are planning a trip (New York, Boston and San Francisco seem to be the top travel sites) or both. We really enjoyed our time mingling with the locals. Ellen claims this is her favorite country to visit on the trip.
Allihies & Dursey Island
The road here shrinks and twists until you’re at the very edge of the Peninsula and you come upon the charming village of Allihies. Visit the old Copper Mines, take some time to enjoy their amazing sandy beach, or detour towards Dursey Island, where you can take the Cable Car to explore. We wanted to do the cable car, but each day we were in County Cork the visibility was about 13 feet. Not that I’m complaining, its better than unlimited visibility and 100 degrees like it is back home in July.
Castletownbere
This area was home to the O’Sullivan Bere clan. Here you will find the ruins of Dunboy (O’Sullivan/Beara castle, look at the pics) Castle and other historical sites as well as the fishing town of Castletownberehaven. If you have the time, ferries run over to the hillwalker’s paradise of Bere Island.
Adrigole & Glengarriff
The glens around the village of Adrigole and the town of Glengarriff are a stunning natural haven. You can take a short ferry across to the botanical gardens at Garnish Island, with 15 hectares of plants and architecture to explore. Stop off at the Ewe Sculptural Gardens if you are in the mood for a little whimsy mixed in with your beautiful countryside.
The Sheen Valley
There’s just one stop left, but its worth it. Head north over the spectacular Caha Pass, through tunnels hand-carved in the days before heavy machinery. Be sure to stop off to take a look at Molly Gallivan’s to see an authentic 19th century Irish farm, or visit the Bonane Heritage Park, and learn more about the ancient history of the area, before following the Sheen river down to the Kenmare Bay and back to Kenmare town, where we spent the night right in the center of town and had a great meal in one of the pubs and spent the evening listening to Irish folk music.
Ewe Sculpture Garden
The Ewe Garden is a unique combination of nature and art – and Ireland’s only interactive & interpretive sculpture garden. For ten years Kurt and Sheena Wood ran the Ewe Art Centre on the Mizen peninsula. They moved to Glengarriff and then opened the Ewe Sculpture Garden in 2004 as a continuation of that work.
The art works are mostly by Sheena, a prolific artist with an impressive range of work from paintings to textiles, mixed media, mosaics, ceramics and sculpture, and a few thrown in by Kurt, her writer husband.
A major part of the allure of the garden is the surrounding scenery from the garden, the sound of trickling water and the stunning lushness of the streams, waterfalls and local and imported flora. The waterfall cascades down beside Falling Water Lodge, a timber clad house, designed and built by the couple. Essentially, this garden is the artists’ home, open to the public, and you can see the cute, rustic cottage hidden in the middle of the greenery. Its only open during the summer (June, July and August) so if you are on the Beara peninsula during the peak season, dodge the crowds.
There truly is a surprise waiting for you around every corner. It’s a fun place to visit and I’d have posted more pictures, but the battery on my camera died and the ever-present rain set in and we just enjoyed our soggy tour of the grounds.
